


After The Storm

by Elennare



Series: Aerois Modern/Human AU series [3]
Category: High Rollers DnD (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:55:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26134585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elennare/pseuds/Elennare
Summary: The morning after a storm (after lightning, an interrupted drive, and a first kiss) - Sentry worries, Aila... helps, and Quill and Lucius finally make it to the camp.
Relationships: Qillek "Quill" Ad Khollar/Lucius Virion-Elluin Elenasto
Series: Aerois Modern/Human AU series [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2091996
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	After The Storm

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [As the Rains Come](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20519867) by [Elennare](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elennare/pseuds/Elennare). 
  * Inspired by [Studying, Selfies, and Hot Chocolate](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24033148) by [Elennare](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elennare/pseuds/Elennare). 



> Another birthday, another shamelessly self-indulgent fluffy AU story! A direct sequel to [As the Rains Come](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20519867), and also alludes briefly to [Studying, Selfies and Hot Chocolate](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24033148). Once more, title comes from After The Storm by Mumford and Sons.

Sentry blinked awake in the early morning, as the sunlight filtered through the canvas of her tent. A quick glance at her watch told her it was ridiculously early, so she tried to get back to sleep, but it was no good. Her tent was growing brighter every minute, the birds’ dawn chorus louder… And her own curiosity as to what the morning was like after the storm of the night before was getting stronger and stronger. Sitting up, she opened the flaps of her tent and stuck her head out, into a gloriously sunny morning. To her right, she could see the other two tents - the one Nova and Aila were sharing, since Sentry had won the rock-paper-scissors game with which they had finally decided who got the one-person tent, and the one meant for Quill and Lucius. Initially, Aila had insisted they leave it for them to put up, saying they shouldn’t get away with not doing it just because they’d somehow managed to get lost; but when it started clouding over and Sentry began to worry about rain, she’d given in and they’d put it up too. As it turned out, of course, Quill and Lucius hadn’t made it to the campsite at all yet… Or had they? Lucius had sent a message the previous evening saying they were stopping for the night, but Quill was always an early riser - they might have arrived and not wanted to wake them. Their tent was closed, but that didn’t tell Sentry anything; she’d closed it herself last night so the rain wouldn’t get in. No, she’d have to check if Quill’s car was there. She could check her phone at the same time; the signal was poor down here among the trees where they had built their camp, but the track to the car park went higher along the mountainside.

Dressing quickly, she slipped out of her tent. There was no sound or movement from either of the others, so she walked away as quietly as possible. She didn’t really think Quill and Lucius were in theirs, and nothing ever woke Nova, but Aila tended to sleep lightly. The morning air was cool despite the sun, but the scramble up to the rough track soon warmed her up. It took her a bit of time to come in sight of the car park, as they hadn’t wanted to camp too near it, but finally she turned a corner in the path and it appeared beneath her. It wasn’t crowded, the campsite too remote for most people, and a quick look told her at once that Quill’s car wasn’t there yet. Well, that was only to be expected, she told herself; it was still early, and she wasn’t sure how far away they’d been when they had to stop and wait the storm out. Sentry frowned at the memory of the previous night’s rain and distant thunder. Had the boys been closer to the lightning? Lucius hadn’t said so, but if they had been close to it, she knew how hard it would have been for Quill. 

Sitting down on a convenient rock in the sun at the side of the track, she pulled out her phone. There was nothing new from either Quill or Lucius, so she scrolled back to their messages from yesterday. First there had been some in the afternoon, with Lucius admitting he’d somehow got them lost. If Sentry was honest, she’d half-wondered whether Quill had done that on purpose at first. He was so good with directions usually, and she knew he had a crush on Lucius - maybe he’d wanted to snatch a little more time alone with him? But it didn’t seem like something he’d do really, and after he’d clarified there had been road closures, she’d decided it must have been a genuine mistake. The last text had been the previous evening, from Lucius again, saying they were caught in the storm and it was too bad to drive in… no matter how many times she re-read it, she wasn’t sure if it was just the rain that had made them stop, or the lightning too. Maybe she could ask Quill? She hadn’t wanted to the night before, afraid of scaring him for no reason if they weren’t close to the lightning, but she could ask now. Although she didn’t want to wake him if they’d had a bad night and he was still sleeping… 

“Hey, Sentry!” a voice said behind her, and she jumped.

“Oh, hi, Aila! Is everything all right?” she replied, squinting up against the sunlight at her friend.

“Yes, everything’s fine. The sun woke me up and I saw you up on the track, so I thought I’d come and join you.” Shielding her eyes with a hand, she looked down to the cars below. “The boys aren’t here yet, then?”

Sentry shook her head. “No, and there’s no news from them either… I’m sure everything’s fine, they’re probably just still asleep.”

“Hmm…” Aila looked at her thoughtfully for a second, then took out her own phone and quickly typed something. “There, they’ll get back to us now.”

“What did you - Aila!” Sentry exclaimed, as she read the text Aila had just sent to their group chat. _Hey, let us know when you wake up, Sentry’s worried you’re dead._

“What? You want to know they’re fine, don’t you?” Aila asked, unrepentant.

“Well, yes, but I don’t want them to worry about me worrying,” Sentry said. “And I’m not worried they’re dead!”

“I know, but you are worried… I’m sure they’re fine,” Aila said, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder. 

Sentry smiled. “You’re right. And… thanks, Aila. I’m sure they’re okay, but I’d like to hear from them.” 

“Well, we’d better get back to the camp, just in case Nova wakes up and thinks we’ve vanished! We can get breakfast started, too - and I can sort my hair,” Aila said, impatiently shoving away some of the long red strands the light breeze was blowing into her face. It wasn’t braided back as it usually was, she must have just thrown some clothes on and come after Sentry as fast as she could. Worried about Sentry, perhaps? Or was she worrying about the boys, too, deep down? Aila liked to act as if she didn’t care, but Sentry knew it was just that, an act.

Sentry nodded. “Let me just send some texts while I have a signal - or I can catch you up, if you want to get back.”

Aila was happy to wait for her, so Sentry sent her own message to the group chat. _I’m not! Just let us know when you’ll be here when you can, so we can meet you._ Then, privately to Quill, she added, _Was the storm bad where you are? We could hear thunder, were you okay?_ All the group knew about Quill’s history with storms, of course, but Sentry knew he’d still prefer it not to be brought up in front of everyone.

With that done, the two women walked back along the track together, enjoying the fine morning. Everything looked so clean and fresh after the rain, and the sky was a cloudless blue that promised good weather for the day. Partway back to the camp, a new message arrived. _Sorry, we just woke up! Everything’s fine, we should be there in an hour or so,_ Quill said. 

“There you go,” Aila told Sentry, with a grin. “I knew it would work! Now come on, I need my breakfast.”

Laughing, Sentry followed her, reading the rest of Quill’s texts - the ones only to her - as she did so. _It was pretty bad, but I’m okay… Lucius was amazing, he helped a lot. I’m so sorry I didn’t let you know I was fine last night! I should have realised you’d worry, I’m sorry. I’m fine, more than fine._ Then, immediately after, a second message read _I’ll tell you about it when we get there._ Well, that was intriguing! She was glad Lucius had helped - or to be more accurate, that Quill had let him help. Of course kind-hearted Lucius would have wanted to help in any way he could, but she knew Quill struggled to admit he needed help sometimes. But what more was there that needed to be told? Knowing he wouldn’t tell her by text if he’d already decided not to, she tried to summon up some patience and hurried after Aila.

* * *

Quill came slowly awake, puzzled… Why was he sleeping sitting up? Why could he feel the sun shining on him? Then memory came rushing back and his eyes flew open with a start, to land on Lucius’s sleeping face. Immediately, his expression softened into a smile. Lucius looked so beautiful, with the sun playing on his long fair hair… Quill sat still, not wanting to wake him, and glad to have a moment to himself to process all the memories of the night before. The storm crashing around them… Lucius’s arms holding him safe through the lightning… his own internal panic over sharing the back seat with him for the night… Lucius’s lips against his own… he’d kissed Lucius, or was it more accurate to say Lucius had kissed him? They’d kissed. Lucius _liked_ him, Lucius had _kissed_ him! He’d daydreamed about kissing Lucius, sometimes, trying to imagine a scenario where he was brave enough to tell him how he felt; but ‘in the back of the car after a panic attack’ had never been something he’d imagined! An older memory came to him, then, of a half-drunken evening with the five of them, of Lucius shyly admitting he’d never kissed anyone. That… that must have been Lucius’s first kiss, then? And Quill had completely forgotten it would be, he realised guiltily… 

The sun had shifted as he sat there thinking, shining on Lucius’s face now. With a grimace, Lucius tried to turn his head away, still mostly asleep, then suddenly opened his eyes - hit, Quill guessed, with the same memories that had overwhelmed him as he woke. His mismatched eyes met Quill’s, and his face lit up.

“Morning, Birdie,” he murmured, voice still sleepy. “Is the storm over?”

Quill hadn’t actually looked, and he couldn’t bear to look away from Lucius now. The sun was shining and he couldn’t hear any thunder, that was good enough. “Morning, Lucius. Seems so.”

“Oh, good,” Lucius said with a smile. Then, with a sudden hint of worry, he added, “Last night - it all actually happened, right? We kissed? You like me?”

“So - so much, Lucius. I like you so much,” Quill replied, feeling the colour rise to his cheeks as he spoke. 

Lucius's smile returned at his words. “It seems almost too good to be true.” 

“I know, I feel the same way,” Quill said softly. “But it did happen, we kissed… I… was that… was that your first kiss?”

To his surprise, Lucius looked suddenly embarrassed. “Was it that obvious?”

“No - no! That’s not what I meant!” Quill reached out and squeezed Lucius’s hand where it lay on his lap over the blanket they were sharing, trying to reassure him. “It was - was wonderful, Lucius, that’s not what I meant at all! I just - I remembered just now you telling us you’d never kissed anyone, and I felt bad for forgetting it last night. I - I know it's silly, but it's meant to be this special thing and I - ”

“Birdie, it’s fine,” Lucius said fondly. “I forgot too! I was too busy thinking about how I was kissing _you_ to think about it being my first kiss, and I’m glad, honestly. I would have been even more nervous if I had thought about it… and it was special, it was very special,” he added, blushing. 

“Really?” Quill whispered. At Lucius's nod, he gathered his courage and asked, “Can - can I kiss you again?”

“Please,” Lucius replied, eyes shining.

Letting go of Lucius’s hand, Quill reached up to cup his face, taking a moment just to enjoy that - the slightest roughness of stubble beginning to grow in along his jaw, the softer goatee, the way Lucius was leaning in to his touch. Then he pulled him lightly forward, leaning in at the same time, and kissed him. Still softly, still just gently pressing their lips together - anything more was too overwhelming to even think about. Lucius might not be the first person he'd ever kissed, but he was the first in a long time, and he liked him so much… Even this was a lot, was almost too much as Lucius slipped his arms around him.

At last, Quill pulled back, opening his eyes again. Lucius's eyes stayed closed a second longer, eyelashes turned to shining gold by the sunlight. “You're so beautiful,” Quill murmured, barely aware he was speaking out loud.

“So are you,” Lucius answered, cuddling up to him.

They stayed like that for a little while, then Quill slowly began, “I suppose we should go, the others will be worried - we - we didn't tell them we stopped! Sentry'll be panicking!” he realised suddenly, panicking himself and trying to lean forward to grab his phone from where he’d left it, forgotten, in the front of the car the night before. 

Lucius's arms, still wrapped around him, didn’t let go. “Don't worry, I told them we were stopping last night, while you were getting the blanket,” he said. “We'll go soon, just… stay a bit, please. They’re probably not even awake yet!”

Quill relaxed back into his embrace, only too happy to stay there. “Thank you for… what did you tell them?” 

“Just that the storm was too bad to drive in, so we were stopping for the night,” Lucius replied, looking a little puzzled.

“You didn't say anything about… about the lightning?” Quill asked.

“Oh! No, I didn't think you'd want me to,” Lucius said.

Quill let out a sigh of relief. “No… I know it's nothing to be embarrassed about - ”

“- It really isn't!” Lucius interrupted, hugging him more tightly for a moment.

“I know, but still… and Sentry worries…” 

“I didn't say anything,” Lucius repeated. 

“Thank you… and thank you again, for last night…” 

“You don't have to thank me,” Lucius said, shaking his head, long hair brushing against Quill's face as he did. “Did I do the right things? I was trying to remember what I've seen Sentry do.” 

“You did, thank you,” Quill said, resting his head on Lucius's shoulder. After a few moments, he asked, “What… what are we going to tell the girls? About… about this?”

“Do we have to plan to tell them anything? Maybe we just wait and see if they notice, and go from there if they do?” Lucius suggested.

Quill thought about that for a moment. “Okay, so what do we tell them when they start asking questions after the first five minutes?”

“You think we can go a whole five minutes without them noticing?” Lucius asked, grinning at him.

“I was being optimistic.” Quill grinned back. “I guess… I guess we could tell them we’re dating, if - if you’d like to go on a date with me when we get home?”

Lucius pouted - or tried to, not very successfully, a smile breaking through almost immediately. “I wanted to ask you out! But yes, yes, yes.”

Quill beamed, almost giddy with excitement, then focussed back on what he’d been saying before. “So, we can tell them we’re dating, it’s new and we’re still figuring it out, um, please don’t make a big fuss?”

“We'll be lucky!” Lucius said with a laugh. “I'm sure Nova's going to go all high-pitched with excitement, if we don't let her make a bit of a fussie she might explode.”

Quill laughed too. “You know what I mean, it - it's still our group holiday, we - I don't want to spoil that.”

“Oh, of course! We won't let it change things… Or not much, at least. I could hold your hand sometimes instead of just thinking about it?” He looked at Quill hopefully.

Quill’s heart skipped a beat at that - not just at the thought of Lucius holding his hand, but at the implications behind his wording; at the idea that Lucius had been longing for this to happen too, just as he had. “I'd like that,” he said softly. “We really should go, shouldn't we?”

“Yes, we should…” 

Lucius didn't let him go, though, kissing him again instead. And Quill didn't fight it, pressing closer to him, threading his fingers into Lucius’s hair. Distantly, he heard his phone chime, but ignored it, too caught up in the moment. When it sounded again and again, though, they reluctantly pulled apart. This time, Lucius let Quill reach forward and take his phone, as he pulled his own out of his pocket. 

“Looks like they’re awake - or Aila and Sentry are, at least,” Quill said, feeling guilty as he read the group chat, then Sentry’s text. He really should have thought to send something last night… 

“What do they say?” Lucius asked. At Quill’s surprised look, he added, “My phone’s dead, I forgot to charge it.” 

Quill went back to the group chat and tilted his phone towards Lucius so he could read too. “Sentry’s been worrying, I should have let her know I was okay.”

“She'll understand,” Lucius said. 

Quill nodded slowly. “I know she will, but I still should have.”

“Well, write to her now, and then we’ll get going so you can show her in person that you’re fine,” Lucius said with a smile, and began to fold up the blanket they’d been sharing.

Quill rapidly sent a couple of messages. For a moment, he considered telling Sentry right then what had happened; he was bursting to share it with her. But no, he wanted to see her face when she found out! He could wait until they got to the camp. Putting his phone away, he opened the car door and slipped out, afraid that if he let himself turn back to Lucius he’d never be able to pull away. To his relief, Lucius seemed to be thinking much the same, as he left the back of the car on his own side. Quill took a moment to stretch the muscles that protested as he stood up, then took his place in the driver’s seat and began looking over his maps. 

“Do you have the route? You’d probably better not trust me with the mappies,” Lucius said as he slid into the passenger seat.

“I think so, it looks pretty straightforward from here,” Quill replied, and held out the map for Lucius to see. 

Lucius leaned over, watching attentively as Quill traced out their path. Then he looked up, at the same moment Quill did. Their eyes met for a second, and they both froze in place; then Lucius pulled sharply back. 

“We’ll never get going if we…” he trailed off, not finishing his sentence. 

He didn’t need to, Quill knew what he meant. He’d been so tempted to kiss Lucius again, despite wanting to get to the camp as soon as possible so he could reassure Sentry… Fixing that thought in his mind, he started the car and pulled back onto the winding road. As he did, Lucius turned on the radio, and loud static filled the air.

“Sorry! Sorry!” Lucius quickly turned the volume down and tried to tune in to other stations, but to little result - clearly the mountains were playing havoc with the signal. “I think I may be an even worse co-pilot today than I was yesterday! I can’t even play music,” he finally said with a grimace, switching off the uncooperative radio. 

“It’s fine, we can just talk… Or you can get some more sleep if you want, I know you’re not usually awake this early,” Quill said.

“How can I sleep when I could be looking at you?” Lucius replied, blushing a little but also looking rather pleased with himself as Quill went red. “I can tell you how amazing I think you are…”

“What - no - I meant - tell me about, I don’t know, a show, or a book - or - or - anything else you can think of that won’t make me crash the car from embarrassment!” Quill exclaimed, grip tightening on the steering wheel.

“But you’re all I can think about,” Lucius said, eyes twinkling. 

“Lucius, please! It - it’s not fair, flirting with the driver, I have to pay attention to the road.”

“All right, I’m sorry,” Lucius relented, and started telling Quill about the last film he’d seen instead.

* * *

Lucius looked around with interest as Quill pulled into a parking space next to Aila’s battered but still sturdy old car. Even at a quick glance, the scenery was beautiful, with craggy mountains rising around them on one side and a forest falling away on the other.

“Well, we’re here! That was faster than I expected,” Quill said, killing the ignition. 

“It’s almost like we set out at sunrise and the roads were quiet,” Lucius teased him.

Quill laughed. “That’s true! I’ll let the girls know, we’ll need them to show us the way to the camp.”

None of the attempted phone calls went through, however, and Quill grimaced as he sent text messages instead. “We may have to wait a while, I - I don’t know if they’ll get these either? And I told them we’d be longer than this.” 

“That’s fine, I’m sure we can find something to do,” Lucius replied easily. He hadn’t been thinking of anything in particular beyond a vague idea of looking around, but as Quill looked quickly back at him with cheeks going red under his freckles, he started to blush too. 

“I - we - we could, but - ”

“I didn’t mean - not that I don’t want - ”

They both started speaking at the same time, then stopped and began laughing instead. 

“This is going to take a bit of getting used to, isn’t it?” Lucius said at last. “I was just thinking we could have a bit of a lookie around while we wait.” 

“That - that’s a good idea,” Quill agreed. “And we should probably introduce ourselves to the owner, too!” 

Lucius agreed, and they left the car and headed towards the reception. Lucius hoped he wasn’t blushing too badly; his face still felt rather warm, despite the fresh breeze. He would very much like to kiss Quill again, but even this half-deserted car park felt a little too public still for something so very new… And thinking about it was making him blush even more, he was sure! Telling himself firmly to stop thinking about it, he followed Quill as the other man knocked on the office door and tentatively pushed it open. 

A short, cheerful woman who introduced himself as Rosalina greeted them inside. She shook her head in sympathy as Quill explained why they’d arrived a day late, and immediately offered them a cup of tea. They both accepted gratefully; Quill had packed snacks and water, of course, so they’d managed to have something on the way, but a hot drink was very welcome. Upon Lucius asking about their friends, Rosalina explained she knew roughly which way they had headed to set up camp but not where they had camped exactly, and advised them to wait, offering to show them the site facilities in the meantime. 

Everything was well built and spotlessly clean, but distinctly on the simple side, and Lucius couldn’t help wrinkling his nose at the sight of a very utilitarian shower block. Then he shook himself; this was supposed to be what Aila had described as ‘real camping’, and he was determined not to give her any reason to tease him for being spoilt… or not too many reasons, at least! He could deal with these amenities for a short time, surely. He’d been careful not to let Rosalina see his expression, that would have been unforgivably rude. Quill, however, glanced over at him, with a quizzical head tilt followed by a fondly knowing look. Well, Lucius had known for ages now it was pointless to try to hide anything from Birdie! (Except a crush, possibly? He’d have to ask sometime if Quill had had any idea how he felt…)

The little tour didn’t last long, and Rosalina excused herself to go back to her work. Tired of sitting down after all the time they’d spent in the car, the pair walked around for a while, admiring their surroundings. There was a large open area for camping between the buildings and the forest, with some tents dotted here and there - most still closed, though people were beginning to bustle around a few. Beyond that, the forest spread seemingly endlessly; Lucius could recognise some giant oaks, but was unsure as to what the rest of the trees were. Turning around to lean on a nearby fence, he looked back at the mountains. From here, he could better see the stream - no, the burn, Rosalina had called it - running down between two of them, and pointed it out to Quill. 

Suddenly, the peace of the morning was interrupted by a hideous noise behind them. Lucius leapt away from the fence, grabbing Quill’s arm and pulling him behind him, before turning around to see what it was. He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting - he’d heard there were boars in Scotland! And hadn’t he read something about bears, or was it wolves? - but all that stared back at him was a small cow, looking much too harmless to be the source of the bellow he’d heard. 

“It - It’s all right, Lucius, it’s just - just a cow,” Quill said, gently pulling his arm free and placing a hand on Lucius’s shoulder. “Rosalina told us she had one for milk, remember?”

Now Quill said it, Lucius did remember Rosalina mentioning it as she’d given them tea. “Did that little cow really make that horrible noise?” he asked dubiously. “It doesn’t look nearly big or fierce enough!”

“It was the cow. I’m sorry, I thought - I’d seen it, I didn’t realise you hadn’t,” Quill said. 

Lucius glared at the evil cow, then began to walk away from the field towards the car park, wanting to get away from the scene. “Sorry… I made a bit of an idiot of myself, didn’t I?” 

“No, no,” Quill tried to reassure him, but his lips were quivering suspiciously, and Lucius realised he was trying to suppress his laughter. 

The funny side of it struck Lucius too then, and he started to laugh. “It’s all right, you can laugh! Just… please don’t tell Aila, or I’ll never hear the last of it.”

They were back at the car now, and Quill leaned against it, laughing. “I won’t, I promise,” he said between chuckles. “And… thank you for trying to protect me from it.”

“Yes, I protected you from the terrible danger of a cow behind a fence,” Lucius snorted.

“You didn’t know it was just a cow when you put yourself between me and it,” Quill pointed out, smiling up at him. “It was brave.”

Lucius smiled back. “I still feel like an idiot, but thank you.”

Maybe he could be brave again? He was on Quill’s right, as he’d taken care to be for ages now, ever since a long-ago midwinter afternoon; partly to make it easier for Quill if he ever needed to grab him for any reason, but also wishing for the courage to reach out and take his hand, or even brush against it. He’d never been able to find that courage before, but now he could. Gently, he slipped his hand under Quill’s where it had been lying against the car, interlocking their fingers. 

“Is this okay?” he murmured.

“Ye-yes, very okay,” Quill answered softly, eyes wide.

At that moment, the quiet of the morning was once again interrupted, this time by a squeal. A very familiar squeal. They both swung around in the direction of it, looking towards the path Rosalina had pointed out to them as the one their friends had taken. Sure enough, Nova was standing there, hands clasped over her mouth and eyes sparkling. Next to her, Sentry’s face was one broad beam of delight, and even Aila was grinning as she shook her head at Nova.

“Five minutes, you said?” Lucius asked, looking back at Quill.

“If we were lucky,” Quill reminded him. He was blushing to the roots of his tousled hair, but he was smiling, too, and Lucius couldn’t help smiling back. “Come on, let’s - let’s go and meet them.”

He didn’t let go of Lucius’s hand, just tugged lightly on it, and Lucius followed him willingly. He knew they were in for some questioning - knowing Nova, he suspected she still had her hands over her mouth in an attempt to physically stop herself from releasing a barrage of questions at high speed! And he knew he was blushing just as much as Quill… But he suddenly realised he was looking forward to it, despite his embarrassment. He was so happy, perhaps the happiest he’d ever been, and he couldn’t wait to share this happiness with his best friends. 


End file.
